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Carmona is viewed by state and national Democrats as a potentially strong candidate for governor in 2014, when Republican Gov. Jan Brewer is expected to leave office. Carmona is “looking at all his options,” which include a bid for governor, a spokesman for the Democrat told The Arizona Republic last week.

A throng of Republicans have lined up for the job but the Democratic bench in the state is far more limited.

“I’ve had a lot of people reaching out to me, wanting me to come back to Washington in an appointed position [or] run for office,” Carmona said. “I’m happy to serve again in this administration or another administration, if the appropriate position opens up.”

Carmona ran a competitive race for outgoing GOP Sen. Jon Kyl’s seat in 2012, but fell short to now-Republican Sen. Jeff Flake. He lost by just under 4 percentage points while President Barack Obama trailed his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, by just over 10 points.

Carmona said that he has returned to his private-sector activities since the Senate campaign came to an end and expects to take some time and “see what options are before me.”